Passenger Car Department

Brian LaKemper and Warren Newhauser created an additional post about the Milwaukee Road Dynamometer Car which was part of the coach train during the recent Diesel Days event. Thanks to Brian and Warren for their work on the car and the additional notes.

Friday afternoon, July 18th, Warren Newhauser came out to get the X-5000 car ready for Saturday with help from IRM volunteer Fred Van Dorpe. There was a lot of Diesel Department activity until about 11:30pm.

On Saturday, July 19th, several gallons of cold lemonade and pretzel sticks served to Dynamometer guests on the car were a hit with the warm temperatures. One of the younger guests (in the photo below) perhaps 8 years old, made a recommendation to Warren Buffet that he put the same very comfortable chairs [Milwaukee Road parlor car seats] in his trains!

One of the younger guests focuses on the monitoring lights - Photo by Warren Newhauser

UP 8148 with its 4,000 hp easily brought the coach train up to speed, barely reaching notch 3, whereas BN-1 and BN-2 (not running) took more effort.

On Sunday, X-5000 volunteer Brian LaKemper had the Dyno open for riders as part of the coach train. Many people got to look inside the car and ride. The car's on-board testing equipment was active, including monitoring throttle position, wheel slip, and air compressor use via 27 pin MU jumper; and drawbar pull and buff (push), monitored by the hydraulic drawbar spliced to the car's centerline. The car's timers for recording throttle position and event monitoring (such as wheel slip) were also functioning.

X-5000 volunteer Brian LaKemper - Photo by Chuck Trabert

The drawbar's operation was determined Saturday evening by Brian L. and Warren N. and Brian put the knowledge to work Sunday; registering up to 50,000 lbs of drawbar pull behind UP 1848 and BN 5383. The drawbar functioned flawlessly all day, usually registering about 20,000 lbs of pull or buff depending on direction of travel. A peak of 40,000 lbs of buff shock also observed at one point.

History note: this is the kind of activity the Dynamometer car observed while in service, though with a lot more trailing tonnage. A buff or pull shock could easily cause a derailment under the right conditions, ie., starting/stopping long trains on mountain grades.

The Dynamometer Car tested a total of 5 different locomotives during the day: UP 1848, BN 5383, C&NW 411, BN 9908, and MILW 37A.

The Dyno’s next schedule operations are IRM Museum Showcase Weekend Sept 20-21, 2014.

Volunteers are always welcome to help with restoration of the Milwaukee Road Dynamometer Car. Please comment on this blog post and we will get back with you.